


I See You

by HeylelAndGoldenWings



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Cute, Falling In Love, Family, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Non descriptive sex, Sad!Steve, Sad!Tony, low key mention of tony wanting to die, post-Endgame AU, tony and Steve centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 09:51:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18689101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeylelAndGoldenWings/pseuds/HeylelAndGoldenWings
Summary: ***ENDGAME SPOILERS BELOW (sort of) AND IN THE FIC***Pepper dies instead.  Tony and Steve start a life together.





	I See You

**Author's Note:**

> Keep in mind I didn’t really go through this and edit. I apologize in advance for any slight errors.

Steve stares at Tony for a short moment. The man is curled against the couch, head in his hands and knees tucked upward. Steve wonders momentarily if he should offer some comfort, then decides against it. The silence drags on. 

 

“I don’t think I ever loved her,” Tony speaks. “She’s gone now, and all I feel is utter  _ loss.   _ And fear. But I don’t think I  _ loved  _ her. She was my best friend.”

 

Steve nods slowly. “You still-“

 

“Morgan is my daughter, Steve. No matter what.  I love  _ her  _ wholeheartedly.”

 

“Of course,” Steve agrees, and stands; shuffling over to Tony. He takes a seat beside him, reaching out and placing a hand on his knee. He finds himself staring more, and his heart aches. Things will never be the same. Not without Natasha and Pepper. 

 

“Daddy!” A voice calls, and little Morgan Stark comes scampering into the room. Steve jolts upright, ready to make his leave, but Tony grips his arm and ushers him back down. 

 

“Hey, baby,” Tony greets, giving his daughter a tiny smile. “Daddy and Steve were having a lovely conversation. Care to join?”

 

“Shit,” Morgan agrees, and pulls herself into his lap. 

 

“Yes, well,” Tony hums, “we were talking about rebuilding the Avengers Facility, of course. Everyone is going to be staying here for a while, but once it’s done? We’ll live there.”

 

“But mommy loved it here,” Morgan argues quietly. 

 

“It’ll be our vacation home, baby. That’ll make it much more special.”

 

Morgan ponders this for a moment, nods in agreement, and wraps her arms around Tony. 

 

Tony glances at Steve, and a genuine smile curls onto his lips. 

 

Steve grins back.

 

***

 

_ Two years later.  _

 

Tony sinks to the floor of the kitchen, leaning his head back against one of the cabinets. 

 

Bucky chooses this incredibly inconvenient moment to walk in. 

 

“Fuck,” Tony groans, and begins to stand, but wobbles. Bucky all but leaps forward and helps him to his feet. 

 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” The soldier asks, leading him to a chair. Tony accepts the help and takes a seat, closing his eyes for a long moment before deciding to answer. 

 

“Panic attack,” he grunts.  “Pepper’s birthday.”

 

“Oh.  Oh.. I-I’ll get Steve,” Bucky offers and turns to leave. Tony let’s him. He needs to get himself handled before Steve comes in. 

 

What seems like only seconds later, two stiff hands are being placed on his back. Steve.  _ Steve.  _ “Steve,” Tony breathes. 

 

“Hey, it’s alright,” Steve murmurs. “I’m going to get some water.  I’ll be right back.”

 

True to his word, just moments later a glass of water is being placed in front of Tony and Steve is sitting across from him. “Tough day. I understand, Tones.”

 

Tony can only nod shakily before he finishes his water and stands. “I’m going to take a nap.”  Which is really just code for,  _ I’m going to get drunk and create stuff.  _

 

He locks himself in his workshop that night.

 

***

  
  


Steve pats Morgan’s head. “It’s warm out today, so I thought your daddy and I could take you to the zoo. Not that your daddy knows, but I’ll talk to him about it when he gets out of the workshop.”

 

Morgan nods as she scoops up a spoonful of Lucky Charms and shoves them into her mouth. Steve smiles to himself, before pouring a glass of water and buttering some toast. 

 

He slides into a seat beside Morgan just as Tony stumbles in. The bags under his eyes are deep and he’s slouched over slightly, but when he sees Morgan he chuckles quietly and slips past the table to the counter. 

 

“I have an idea,” Steve speaks once Morgan has finished her breakfast and left the room. Tony nods and sips his coffee, eyes fluttering shut for a long moment. “We could take Morgan to the zoo.”

 

Tony nods again. “Sure. When?”

 

“Anytime- Tony, will you be okay? You… you haven’t really been  _ out.” _

 

“Out in public,” Tony repeats, and shakes his head. “I’m going to take medicine, and if I start to panic, it’s your job to give me a hug and hold my hand.” The tone is serious, but then Tony breaks out laughing. “Oh, Captain, I’ll be just fine.”

 

Steve stands up to empty his plate. “Okay, well. Meet me back here with Morgan around noon. We can go out to eat and then meet the animals.”

 

Tony hums in agreement. 

 

***

Tony holds Morgan’s hand as they walk toward the elephant enclosure. Morgan seems to like all the animals, but Tony finds himself not caring for any of them.  All he can do look at is Steve. 

 

This isn’t new. After Pepper, things had been hard. Now, they’re getting better, and Steve is the one constant in his life. Thor and Bruce come and go,  Morgan has school, Bucky is usually out making the most of the day by wandering the town. But Steve is almost always with Tony. 

 

Tony is helplessly in love. Which is a major inconvenience, and not what Tony ever intended. 

 

He blinks back to reality as Morgan tugs on his sleeve. “I wanna see the lizards. Can we get a lizard?”

 

Tony thinks about this, then shares a glance with Steve. “What do you think, Spangles?”

 

“Hm. I’d prefer a dog. Or a cat.”

 

Tony hugs Morgan as close as he can then crouches down next to her. “We can get a dog. How about a Shiba Inu?”

 

“ _ Hell  _ yeah.”

 

Steve thwaps Tony on the head. “Stop teaching her bad words.”

 

“It isn’t me! I swear. It’s Barnes.”

 

Steve just rolls his eyes and begins making his way to the reptile exhibit. 

 

***

 

Tony is sick. He  _ knows  _ he’s sick because he actually vomited. Thankfully, everyone is asleep, and it’s just Tony up and about, in oversized pajamas, eating soup and watching Netflix. 

 

Just as one of the stupid teens on the show is being gruesomely murdered, Steve walks in. “A bit graphic, huh,” he comments, taking a seat beside Tony and looking him over. “Ah, you’ve looked better.  You should go to sleep.”

 

“Wanna finish this,” Tony disagrees, and motions to his soup. It’s canned chicken noodle soup, not the best and not the worst, but it’s warm against his shivering body and feels nice against his sore throat. 

 

Steve reaches out and rubs Tony’s back.  He doesn’t think he can offer any other form of comfort- the soup is already made, so it’s not like he can make soup for Tony. Eventually the other man grows tired and stands, making his way to the kitchen to deposit his soup.  

 

Steve follows him; hoping that him being there might help Tony at least feel a little better.

 

The next day, Tony looks better, but he’s obviously not at his best, either.  Steve takes Morgan to school and comes home to find Tony asleep on the couch, shivering and mumbling  _ Ultron _ over and over again.  Steve’s heart aches at the sight.  He scoops up the tiny man and settles him in bed, leaving a cup of water on the nightstand in case Tony wakes up feeling thirsty.

 

Three hours later, Tony comes stumbling out of his room, looking fresh and new.  Steve smiles at him and hands him a cup of coffee. Bucky watches lazily from a chair, then decides now is a good time as any to speak up, “Stevie, Sam wanted to know if you’d come out for lunch with us.  Tony can come, too, if he feels up to it.” 

 

Tony frowns, and the silence drags on for a long while.  Then he shrugs and drowns the rest of his coffee. “I’m hungry.  Where are we going?”

 

Bucky grins, and stands up to wrap one arm around Tony’s shoulders.  Steve glares at the way Tony melts into it, then carefully reminds himself that Tony likes any physical contact he can get because, for so long, he lacked it.  “We haven’t decided.”

 

“Shawarma,” Tony suggests, then cheers in excitement when Bucky accepts and says he’ll text Sam to meet them there.   Steve’s heart aches as he thinks of their first battle. That seems like a life-time ago, and he supposes, in some ways, it was.  

 

After eating a late lunch, Steve and Tony bid Sam and Bucky farewell.  They have to pick up Morgan, and Bucky and Sam claim they have things to do.  They spend the cab ride to Morgan’s school guessing what those things are. In the end, they land on three possibilities: sex, a date, or both.

 

“It’s about time,” Tony sighs happily, and Steve can’t help but stare at him.     
  


“Yeah,” he quickly agrees once he realizes what he’s doing.

 

Tony’s eyes widen.  “Oh, shit, Cap- I’m sorry.  I know you and Bucky….”

 

“What? What,  _ no.   _ We’re not like that- there was a time- but not-”

 

“But you’re in love! Captain America and his best friend, James Barnes… fighting crime and being The Cutest Gay Couple-”

 

“God, no, Tony,” Steve groans.  “I’m not in love with him. I’m glad him and Sam are finally finding each other.  They deserve it.”

 

Tony pauses, and looks like he wants to say something.  He does. “You could find someone. I could find you someone.  Whatever you want, really.”

 

“No,” Steve declines.  “I’m good where I am. Besides, if I was fucking off with some girl,”  _ or guy,  _ he thinks, but doesn’t say, “I think Morgan would really be in for it.  You can’t take care of her all the time.”

 

“I’ll get Bruce to babysit.”  He chuckles. “I’m not ever going to get used to you swearing.”

 

Steve rolls his eyes fondly, and resists the urge to reach out and grab Tony’s hand.

 

***

 

Tony is sitting on Steve’s lap.  It isn’t really the first time this has happened- Tony has the habit of falling asleep on him- but it is the first time that he’s  _ straddling  _ him.  And it’s the first time they’ve been alone in forever: Sam, Bucky, Bruce and Thor (who came back for a visit) offered to take Morgan out for the day, so it’s just Tony and Steve.

 

Tony is nervous.  Steve wouldn’t know this if he didn’t spend such a tedious amount of time watching him, but it can come in handy.  He places his hands on Tony’s hips and pulls him in closer. “Are we really doing this?”

 

“I dunno, are we, Steve?” Tony asks silkily, and Steve can’t help but groan.  He’s really in for it. But, as the responsible adult of the two, he knows that this isn’t a good idea.

 

“We haven’t even had a date,” Steve says lamely.

 

“No, I reckon we haven’t,” Tony chuckles and grinds forward.  “You gonna ask my father if you can take me out to the movies, then bring me home right away?”

 

“No, Howard wouldn’t get a say even if he was still alive.”  Steve can’t help but smile at the happy look Tony sends him. Oh, well.  Tony was never about formalities, and maybe it’s time that Steve isn’t, either.  He yanks Tony into a kiss, and relishes the moan that comes from the tiny man. 

 

Tony weeps when Steve finally fucks into him, each tear an omen of Tony’s pure and raw love for the greatest soldier of all time. 

 

Steve holds him close, doesn’t say a word, but his eyes give away plenty.  Tony chokes on his own breath, trying to say what he’s wanted to say all this time.

 

Finally,  _ finally _ , when he lets go, reaching his climax, body blissed out and weak, the words slip past his lips.  “I love you.”

 

“I love you, too.”  The way Steve says it is slow, yet sure, as if he, too, has been waiting to speak the three forbidden words.  “Forever,” he promises.   
  


“Forever,” Tony agrees, and allows Steve to wipe away the wet stains on his cheeks, and with them, the fear he has felt for so long obliterates as well.  

 

***

 

Tony doesn’t know why it hurts so much when Steve leaves for that first mission. It’s been two years since Thanos, and in all that time there had been no… no crime big enough for the Avengers. But now there was, and SHIELD had sent Steve to handle it. 

 

Tony cries on his bed, clutching an old sweatshirt of Steve’s, clinging to it like it’s a lifeline. Bucky finds him there, and sits beside him. “He’s gonna be okay, Tones.”

 

“What if he ends up like Pepper?”  The question hangs in the air. Eventually Bucky leaves, and Tony is left to his own thoughts. They’re not good ones. 

 

He falls asleep, holding onto that sweatshirt. When he wakes Morgan is snuggled against one side of him and Steve the other. 

 

This is good. He’s good. 

 

***

 

The thought of dying once thrilled Tony. 

 

Now, he doesn’t want his life to end. He has Steve, who kisses him awake in the mornings and cuddles him to sleep each night. 

 

He has Morgan; the light of his life, his daughter. He never wants to do wrong by her. 

 

Bucky and Sam; they always insist the five of them will grow old together. Tony knows this is true. They’re a family. A bit messed up, but a family. 

 

Bruce, Clint and Thor don’t come around often, but when they do, it’s always exciting to hear about their adventures. 

 

So yeah. Tony doesn’t want to die anytime soon. 

 

Tony looks over to Steve, and pulls him into a kiss. 


End file.
